Operation optimization of an array of receiver-reactors for solar fuel production.

In many concepts for the solar thermochemical production of fuels in a large scale, it is planned to place an array of receiver-reactors on a single solar tower. We investigate how each of these reactors needs to be operated and how the available power of the heliostat field should be distributed to the respective receiver-reactors to obtain maximum amount of solar fuel. Therefore, we developed a model for a single receiver-reactor, which is then used to analyze the single reactor operation. Based on that we present a heuristic which tries to maximize the hydrogen produced by an array of receiver-reactors for a given solar power. As our results are preliminary, we give an outlook on ongoing and future work in the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]